The Steve Dahl Network

Holy crap. I’m officially part of the Steve Dahl Network, a collective of broadcasters and entertainers who’ve chosen to evolve the concept of radio well into the 21st century.

I’ve been an admirer of what Steve’s been building for a while, and fully believe in the power and potential of the podcasting medium. On a much more personal level, I’m a Dahl fan–have been since I was a kid. One of my earliest radio-related memories comes from when I was maybe 10 or 11 years old. My grandfather wanted to take me downtown for an adventure, and asked where I wanted to go. “WLS,” I said. WLS, home of Steve Dahl and Garry Meier. WLS, the blowtorch AM station that positively fucking owned the midwest. All I wanted to do was look through the window of the station’s fishbowl studio and see Steve and Garry in action.

Ignore for a moment the fact that I probably shouldn’t have been allowed to listen to Steve and Garry at that age. Pay no attention to the fact that my parents should have thought better of hearing me sing along with “Another Kid in the Crawl.” The point I’m trying to make is that Steve’s really the guy who hooked me into radio in the first place.

When my grandfather and I got up to the WLS studios, Steve and Garry were nowhere to be found. They were supposed to be on the air, but they weren’t in the studio. As we were about to turn around and get back on the elevator, my young self feeling totally dejected, out from the elevator walked Dahl. “Walked” is probably the wrong word. Let’s go with whizzed, or raced. He was in a hurry: talk shows don’t host themselves, after all. Clad in his ceremonial Hawaiian shirt, he offered a “How’s it going?” as he darted by. That was the one and only interaction I had with him until this year. The hiatus was worth the wait.

It’s an thrill to be part of the Steve Dahl Network, and I hope to honor the trust he’s placed in me as a contributor. Out of the box, I’ll be hosting a monthly interview show, not all that dissimilar from what I’ve been doing on my podcast up until this point. It’ll sound sexier and feel bigger, but I think that will have more to do with the Dahl association than anything I do as a host.

My first show hits later this week, featuring actor/musician Paul Adelstein (“Private Practice,” “Prison Break”). Jump on the bandwagon now: